Śivasaṃhitā 4.37

This heading — mahābandhakathanam, ‘exposition of the great lock’ — marks the text’s transition to the second of the great energy-containing techniques. The Mahābandha is not simply a physical seal but the simultaneous coordination of three bandhas: mūla, uḍḍīyāna, and jālandhara. When performed together, they create a field of internal pressure that forces prāṇa to enter the suṣumnā.

The term mahā (great, supreme) precedes bandha (bond, lock, from the root bandh, to bind). The word kathanam is the action noun from the verb kath- (to narrate, to expound, to declare): it indicates that what follows is active teaching, not merely description. These section headings (kathanam, nirūpaṇam, prakaraṇam) are characteristic of hatha yoga texts compiled between the 12th and 16th centuries.

In hatha yoga literature, the Mahābandha also appears in the Haṭhapradīpikā (III.19-21) and the Gheraṇḍasaṃhitā (III.18-20). The Śivasaṃhitā treats it with greater physiological detail, associating the three locks with the ascent of vital fluids from the root plexus to the crown. The classic image is that of a serpent trapped in a tube: the bandhas ‘close’ above and below so that energy cannot escape.